CITY GARDENS ARE CENTURIES-OLD. EXAMPLE: SEFTON PARK IN LIVERPOOL, TETE-A-TETE'OR IN LYON

ABSTRACT

Landscape art, as history shows, has been an integral part of every epoch of human life since ancient times. We admire the beauty of ancient parks in aristocratic estates, visit the gardens and squares of modern cities and cannot imagine a festive holiday without them. Gardens create favorable conditions for the creation of works of art, inspiring various genres of art and opening up new possibilities for their aesthetics. I agree with D.S. Likhachev said that the "feedback" of gardens and parks over time is very great, and I would add that it manifests itself not only in art, but also in various areas of public life.

Landscape design is an aspect of history that has been studied quite fully, but also one that has not yet been touched upon or little studied. Therefore, I decided to explore landscape art, its development in the 19th century and the impact of gardens and parks on the overall life of urban residents.

Keywords: park area, landscape design, historical context, utopian ideas, romantic style, public spaces, architectural elements, cultural heritage, urban parks, natural environment, alternative recreation.

As Toxteth grew rapidly, the green fields and forests were replaced by narrow streets and courtyards full of small uninhabited houses, stagnant air, a small amount of sewage and a single faucet in the middle of the garden. At the same time, there was a demand for stately homes for the aristocracy in the south of Liverpool: in 1862, the Council of City Engineers recommended a place for their construction, and the Public Works Act of 1864 (the Industrial Districts Act) allowed businesses to borrow up to 500,000 pounds and repay them within 30 years. This led to steps being taken to acquire land for Sefton Park: in 1867, the Council bought 375 acres (1.52 km) of land from the Earl of Sefton for 375 pounds for the development of the park.

Sefton Park was the largest of the "ribbon parks" planned by the Liverpool Improvement Board in the 1850s, which eventually included Newsham Park and Stanley Park. Politicians recognized the need for clean, fresh open space, but the public was outraged that £250,000 had been wasted and irrationally. As with the neighboring Princes Park, the surrounding land was sold for housing to finance the park project.

Shortly after, a major European competition was held to create the park; 29 applications were received, and the competition was won by French landscape architect Edouard Andre, and the project was designed by Liverpool architect Louis Hornblower. The park was opened by Prince Arthur on May 20, 1872 and is dedicated to the "health and pleasure of the townspeople." Construction began in 1867 on a plot of 156 hectares. Previously used as agricultural land, the area was surrounded by private publications. There were waterways in the north and south, and later artificial ponds and streams were created.

The park was clearly divided functionally: sports lawns, gardens, deer park, restaurant, music pavilion and botanical gardens, which were divided into separate plots with their own layout. The road network formed ellipses, circles and smooth curves, delineating open spaces. Due to the large scale, road lines are not actually perceived as geometric curves. There are horse riding trails and rest houses all around. Plantings in the form of arrays and bushes are depicted on the periphery of the park and at road intersections, as well as freely placed in clearings, forming a series of landscape paintings that can be perceived from walking paths.

The Tête d'Or, which means "golden head" in French, was designed by architects Denis and Eugene Buhler, and its construction began in 1856. Construction continued at a rapid pace until 1866, the following year it was opened to the public, and the official opening took place in 1858.

The Botanical Garden of Lyon, which had already existed in the Croix-Rousse area since 1795, was an important part of the exposition and was renamed the "Garden of the Empress" in 1805 in honor of the donation of exotic plants from the collection of Napoleon's wife Josephine Beauharnais. Taxonomy and botany were studied in the botanical garden, a herbarium containing 17,000 plant species was created, and a free art school was opened. In 1853, the botanical garden was severely damaged by a hurricane. Taking advantage of the construction of the Tete d'Or Park, director Charles Serange donated the entire plant collection to the new park.

The construction of the park began with a huge lake with an area of 16 hectares with a "Swan Island" in the center; the first greenhouse was built in 1858, a zoo in 1861, an observatory in 1878 and a new greenhouse in 1880; after completion in 1866, the total area of the park reached 117 hectares. The famous international exhibitions of 1872 and 1894 were held in this park. A significant event for the Lyon rose growers was the opening in 1858 of the botanical section in the Tete d'Or Park, where a collection of roses was placed; By 1906, the collection numbered 1,200 species, some of which still exist today.

Today is Tete-a-tete'Or is one of the largest parks in France. Its area is 105 hectares, of which 17 hectares is occupied by a lake, 9 hectares by a zoo and 8 hectares by a botanical garden with greenhouses.

Eight entrances lead from the city center to the park. The main entrance is decorated with the "Children's Gate of the Rhone", designed by architect Charles Mason and cast by J. Bernard in 1900. Part of the "Tete-a-tete'Or" occupies a landscaped park with lawns. The forest park has 8,800 trees, of which 61% are deciduous, 36.5% are coniferous and 2.5% are rare trees. There are many trees and shrubs here, including cicadas up to 40 m high, cedars from Lebanon, liriodendrons from Virginia, ginkgo from Japan and taxodiums from Louisiana.

References:

1. Bogovaya, I.O. Landscape art. Forestry [Text]: textbook / I.O. Bogovaya, L.M. Fursova. – M.: Agropromizdat, 1988. – 220 p.
2. Bogovaya, I.O. Greening of populated places [Text] / I.O. Bogovaya, V.S. Teodoronsky. – M.: Publishing house: Lan, 2014. − 256 p.
3. Vergunov, A.P. Russian gardens and parks [Text] / A.P. Vergunov, V. A. Gorokhov// - M.: Publishing house: Nauka, 1987. – 406 p.
4. Gorokhov, V.A. Parks of the world [Text], V. A. Gorokhov, L. B. Lunts. – M.: Stroyizdat, 1985. – 328 p.
5. Delille, J. Gardens [Text] / J. De lisle. – L., 1987. − 231 p.